BRIDGEPORT -- Board of Education Chairman Rev. Kenneth Moales Jr., who has been very vocal in his defense of Interim Schools Superintendent Paul Vallas, is now faced with even a bigger challenge -- barring his church's doors from a large gathering of creditors.

Foundation Capital Resources, a lender to church groups around the country, recently filed a foreclosure action against Moales' church, the Prayer Tabernacle Church of Love, claiming unpaid mortgages totaling $7.3 million dollars. In addition, liens have been filed against the church and a number of properties it owns in the city's East End totaling nearly $1 million more.

But Moales, who was treasurer of Mayor Bill Finch's last campaign, contends it is not a lack of funds but the tactics of an aggressive lender that are the root of his evil.

"My dad left me a millionaire, I'm fine, we're fine, we don't have any financial problems," Moales said Tuesday. "We are having a banking issue."

He said he is aware that some people in the city, including other members of the school board, are trying to discredit him because of his perceived financial problems.

"As chairman of the school board I don't make any money from this district, so it should have nothing to do with it," said Moales, whose children attend private school.

"With Reverend Moales pushing for the city to waste public money on defending an unqualified superintendent instead of educating Bridgeport's children, it is hardly surprising his church is in financial trouble," Farrell said.

Moales is the pastor and son of the founder of the Prayer Tabernacle Church of Love and its grand addition, The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit, on Union Avenue in one of the poorest neighborhoods in the city.

According to city tax records, the church owns 10 properties in the city's East End, including church buildings, a school, a day care, a multi-family house, parking lots and an empty lot.

All are tax exempt except for the Little Kingdom Daycare on Stratford Avenue which owes $7,669.96 in back taxes, city tax records show. Mayoral spokeswoman Elaine Ficarra said the city would have no comment on Moales' tax situation.

"We are one of the largest property owners in the city," said Moales, who contends that all their taxes are paid.

Neither Foundation officials, at their Springfield, Mo., headquarters, nor their local lawyer, returned calls for comment.

Its website states: "Our consultants have a heart for ministry growth and look beyond numbers to your ministry's vision."

In 2007, Moales and his father, the late Bishop Kenneth Moales, had a vision to construct a grand 41,000-square-foot cathedral of glass and marble on Union Avenue.

That December, according to court documents, the Moales borrowed $6.1 million from Foundation Capital, securing the loan with the church's properties. A year later, the records show they borrowed another $1.17 million from Foundation.

Under the conditions of the total loan, they were to make weekly payments of $10,000 per week for the first three Sundays of each month and $15,000 for the fourth Sunday of each month, based on the terms of a 30-year mortgage.

But the lawsuit states that the church has failed to make the required payments and is now in default.

Moales, who referred to himself both as a pastor and a businessman, graduated from accounting and divinity schools and runs a financial consulting business.

"Our church is very strong financially," he said. "We have seen an increase in our membership (now more than 1,000) and a 40 percent increase in our revenue. I'm sure no other church in the city can say that."

"But as everyone knows, there is a recession going on across this country and property values have been dropping," he said. "We spent $12 million, including $4 million of our own money, to build the new building and now it's not worth that anymore."

Moales said that when he and his father sat down with loan officers, they were assured the loan company only had their best interest in mind. But later they found out they were paying 10 and a half percent interest on the loan.

"I've managed to get it down to six and a half but that is still way too high," he said. He said Foundation has not honored their agreement and is using "predatory" lending practices. As a result he said he is working to refinance the loans.

Of the contractors and other vendors who have placed liens on church property, Moales said he said he is in the process of paying some while the remainder are the responsibility of the mortgage company.

"Our church will not lose a mailbox -- never mind a piece of property in Bridgeport," he said.